UCLA Headlines September 26, 2013

Office of Media Relations |
September 26, 2013

IN THE NEWS:

Thousands Participate in UCLA Volunteer Day

Wednesday’s print version of the Los Angeles Times highlighted the fifth annual UCLA Volunteer Day, in which 6,500 new freshmen and transfer students, along with some 900 staff, faculty, alumni and upperclassmen, volunteered for community service projects at more than 50 locations throughout Los Angeles. Today’s Huffington Post features a column by a UCLA graduate student about her volunteer experience.

Gift Supports UCLA's Foster Youth

The Chronicle of Social Change reports today that the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation has given a $3 million gift to UCLA to create an endowment that covers tutoring, mental health services, summer housing, unforeseen school expenses and other costs for UCLA students who were or are in foster care.

Unearthing Ancient Egyptian Fortress

Popular Archaeology reported Tuesday on the excavation of an ancient Egyptian archaeological site in the Israeli city of Jaffa by researchers from UCLA and other institutions. Aaron Burke, UCLA associate professor of Near Eastern languages and cultures and a member of UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, was quoted.

Reconnecting With the Mother Tongue

A Wednesday Associated Press article about programs that give students a chance to learn or reconnect with their ancestral languages highlighted a study by UCLA's National Heritage Language Resource Center that found that college-level heritage language instruction is offered in 34 states.

Be Happy: Your Genes May Thank You

A blog published Wednesday on the Oregon Live website highlighted research led by Steven Cole, professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA's Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, and colleagues showing that individuals whose happiness stems from a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life show a favorable genetic expression while those whose happiness comes from self-gratification show an adverse expression.

Schools, Race and Segregation

An Aljazeera America article about a lack of racial diversity in U.S. schools referenced research by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA showing that most African-American and Latino students attend public schools with very few white students.

UCLA Doc a Possible Nobel Pick

Business Insider and Britain's Telegraph reported Wednesday that Thomson Reuters has picked Dr. Dennis Slamon, professor of hematology–oncology and director of clinical and translational research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, as a possible winner of this year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of the HER-2/neu breast cancer gene and his research leading to the development of the breast cancer drug Herceptin.

Rock Icons' Teen Cancer Program

An article in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch about programs aimed at caring for young adult cancer patients referenced the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the first such program launched in the U.S. by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the band the Who.

Docs 'Vacuum' Huge Clot from Patient's Heart

The Thousand Oaks Acorn, the New York Daily News, India TV News, the Indo-Asian News Service and Australia’s Daily Telegraph report today on a minimally invasive procedure performed at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in which doctors used a new device to 'vacuum' a 24-inch blood clot from a patient's heart, sparing him from open-heart surgery. Dr. John Moriarty, an interventional radiologist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was quoted in the coverage.

Early Imaging of Alzheimer's Is Key

Health Canal reported Tuesday on a study led by Dr. Daniel Silverman, associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, that found that patients with early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease who were diagnosed early using a brain-imaging test subsequently received better care and had better clinical outcomes than other patients. Silverman was quoted.

Stretchable, Transparent Electronic Displays

Fast Company, Britain's Engineer, Extreme Tech and New Electronics reported on Wednesday, and GigaOm reported Tuesday, on the development by Qibing Pei, professor of materials science and engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and colleagues of an organic light-emitting device that can be stretched, folded and twisted like rubber. Pei was quoted in the coverage.

New Encryption Stymies Hackers

IEEE Spectrum reports today on the development by Amit Sahai, professor of computer science at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and colleagues of a mathematical encryption system that allows software programs to be used as intended while preventing any hacking of the code behind them.

Childhood Abuse Linked to Adult Health Problems

Medical Xpress reported Tuesday on a study led by Judith Carroll, a postdoctoral scholar at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, showing a correlation between abuse in childhood and severe health problems later in life.

Cellphone Microscope Images Nanoscale Objects

Fast Company reported Tuesday on the development by Aydogan Ozcan, professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and colleagues of a lightweight, field-portable device that can attach to a cellphone to detect viruses and bacteria in samples in the field.

UCLA Doctor Saves Choking Diner

Britain’s Daily Mail and KPCC-89.3 FM reported Wednesday that Dr. Royce Johnson, adjunct professor of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, saved the life of a choking diner at a restaurant by performing an emergency tracheotomy. Dr. Paul Krogstad, professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, was present at the restaurant and was quoted in the Daily Mail and interviewed on KPCC.

LGBT Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

KCRW-89.9 FM reports today on a study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law on the number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the United States who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Discussing the Future of Nanoscience

Tuesday's ACS Nano featured an op-ed by Paul S. Weiss, director of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute and a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry and of materials science and engineering who holds UCLA's Fred Kavli Chair in Nanosystems Sciences, and André Nel, professor of nanomedicine at UCLA and director of the University of California's Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, highlighting a meeting of leaders in nanotechnology in Beijing. Weiss was quoted Monday in a Chemical and Engineering News article about the meeting.

QUOTABLE:

Dr. Gregg Fonarow

Fonarow, UCLA's Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science and director of the Ahmanson–UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, is quoted today in a HealthDay News article about the possible health risks of a blood-thinning medication to patients with mechanical heart valves.

Lynn Vavreck

Vavreck, UCLA associate professor of political science, was quoted Wednesday in a Los Angeles Times blog article about the possibility of the Democrats holding the White House for a third term.

Eugene Volokh

Volokh, the Gary T. Schwartz Professor at the UCLA School of Law, was quoted Wednesday in a Slate column about "revenge porn" — distributing sexually explicit photos or videos in order to cause others humiliation or distress.